Israel Raises Alert Level After Shooting

Reports are coming in from the Associated Press that police in Israel have raised their alert level status after a 22-year-old Arab was shot to death. Following the shooting, protests spread across Israel and police believed that additional violence my follow. In a video of the shooting, it appeared that the 22-year old was retreating from police when shot.

Micky Rosenfeld, a police spokesman, reported the move to raise the alert status to the second highest level on Sunday. Thousands began protesting on the streets throughout the country and police were attacked with firebombs and rocks from protesters.

The shooting is being investigated by the internal investigations department of the Israeli police. The investigations are to determine if the officers involved followed proper protocol.

Tensions are already high in Jerusalem, where Palestinians have been fighting daily with the police for access to a holy site. Palestinians from eastern Jerusalem are battling with the Israeli police and fear is the shooting will elevate the tensions to a more dangerous level.

The new alert level takes the country to the highest status level since the end of the summer’s 50-day war in Gaza. It remains to be seen how the details from the investigation into the shooting will affect the new alert level.